August 24, 2025 • 47 mins
What rivers of impossibility are you facing right now? The story of Joshua leading Israel across the Jordan offers a surprising message of hope for anyone feeling overwhelmed by life's challenges.
This powerful exploration of Joshua 3 reveals that beneath the dramatic miracle of waters parting lies something even more remarkable - the unseen currents of God's faithfulness flowing through history. Like children playing with beach toys, we often focus on what's happening above the surface while missing the stronger forces moving underneath.
God deliberately chose flood season - the worst possible time - for Israel to cross the Jordan. Why? Because our moments of greatest difficulty often become the stage for God's most dramatic displays of power. When waters rise around you, it might not be evidence of God's absence but the setup for His most magnificent work.
The beauty of this story lies in how little faith was required. The priests carrying the ark weren't asked to wade into deep waters on blind faith - they simply needed to put their toes at the water's edge. That small act of obedience triggered God's supernatural response, stopping the river's flow for fifteen miles upstream and creating not just a narrow path but a wide highway of dry ground.
This pattern reaches its fulfillment 1,400 years later when Jesus would be baptized in this same stretch of the Jordan River. The God who parted waters for His people would ultimately send His Son to pass through the waters of judgment, creating a path for us all.
Whatever flood-stage challenge you're facing, God isn't asking for heroic faith - just enough trust to put your toe in the water. Take that small step today and discover the solid ground that comes from following the One who goes before you.
If you want to learn more about the MidTree story or connect with us, go to our website HERE or text us at 812-MID-TREE.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
While you guys are settling in Landry, will let you
know where we're going to bereading from as we continue our
time in the book of Joshua.
If you hadn't had a chance tograb a journal, we've got a few
of them floating around for youto grab at your leisure Landry.
Where are we going to be?
Speaker 2 (00:16):
We're going to be in Joshua 3, 5 through 11 today.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
I'm acting like I don't know.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Which is page 179 in the Pew Bibles.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
I feel, pretty confident.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
I know where we're going.
So I'm going to count to 10,awkwardly while y'all turn there
in my head.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
By the way, if you don't have a Bible, you're
welcome to take one of the PewBibles and just make that your
own as a gift from us to you.
For what it's worth, it's nicerthan a typical Pew Bible.
For what it's worth, it's notas nice as a Bible you could
probably get for $20 or $25.
And so you decide.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Cool.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
Landry has a very nice Bible.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
Okay, we're going to start in verse five, sorry.
Okay, verse 5.
And Joshua said to the peopleof Israel Come here and listen
(01:39):
to the words of the Lord, yourGod.
And Joshua said here is how youshall know that the living God
is among you and that he will.
He will, without fail, driveout from before you the
Canaanites, the Hittites, theHivites, the Perizzites, the
Girgashites, the Amorites andthe Jebusites.
Behold, the ark of the covenantof the Lord and all the earth
(01:59):
is passing over before you intothe Jordan.
This is the word of the Lord.
Hey, killer job.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
Yeah, did you practice?
Way to go?
Yeah, way to go, way to go, allright.
One of the things I want you tonotice before we go any further
in the text is when God saysokay, today you are going to
know that as I was with Moses,so I am going to be with you.
So there's going to be thissort of obvious passing of the
(02:26):
torch from Moses to Joshua, andI want to show you in a unique
way how this is going to happen.
You'll see it.
I think guys maybe is it me oris it you there we go All right.
In verse 15, there's this, infact, most of you in your Bibles
.
If you want to look in verse 15, chapter three, you'll probably
see a parentheses there.
(02:46):
There are two parentheses inour passage.
One of them is physically aparentheses and it's this in
verse 15.
Now, the Jordan overflows allof its banks throughout the time
of the harvest.
It just sits right in themiddle of our passage.
What I want you to begin towrestle with and ask the
question is this why would Godchoose for his people to cross a
(03:12):
river, going into the land thathe has called them to, at the
worst possible time in the flowcycle of the river, of the God
who knows all things.
Whenever I go to the beach,especially with my nieces and my
nephews, our family has so manybeach toys.
It's ridiculous, somethingabout having a number of kids
(03:34):
all squeezed.
Right now we're at 16, 14, 12,and 10.
And so this summer we wereaging out of our beach toys.
My kids aren't playing withshovels anymore and little pails
and little toys.
They want to catch fish andthey, you know, want to
skimboard and do things likethat.
So I packed every beach toy wehave ever had from our basement
(03:54):
into the car when we drove downto the beach and on like day
three, I pulled every single oneof them out to the beach and
one of three things was going tohappen it was going to show, to
be broken, no longer needed,useful or desired, and it was
going to go into the garbage canor some other neighboring
little kid was going to wanderby and they were just going to
have the greatest day ever asthey got all of this stuff.
(04:14):
It was going to get used and Iknew I needed to keep it, or
maybe that was just it.
I thought there were three oh,oh, or we realized it would work
if we had a piece, and then Igot on Amazon and I ordered the
piece, so like we finally had amuch more small, like little kit
of our summer stuff.
One of my niece and nephew'sfavorite toys is this little
(04:38):
surfer guy.
And this little surfer guy sitson a floating board and you
just chuck the thing into thewaves.
He always pops upright, healways rides a wave in, and then
they joyfully run down thebeach, pick it up and throw it
back in.
All right, let me tell you what.
I'm telling you this To them,all of the power and all of the
(04:59):
excitement is on top of thewater.
They're trying to throw thisguy right into the curl of a
wave.
They want to throw it as far asthey can, to the biggest wave
that they can, so that they seethis little guy get the longest
ride that he can.
But if they go to pick it uptoo early, here's what happens
they run out to get it and theunseen force underneath them,
(05:21):
which is actually much strongerthat current underneath, sucks
them off their feet, and thenwhat was a wonderful time
becomes a very difficult time.
Let me tell you why.
I want you to think about thatand why I want you to think
about this.
Here's what you're going to beprone to see in reading Joshua 3
.
You're going to be prone to seea guy named Joshua holding on
(05:42):
to the reins as he leads peoplethrough the Jordan River.
You're going to be prone to seethese priests holding onto an
ark which is incredibly valuable, like one time it almost fell.
Some guy touched it and he wasstruck dead.
So we're talking about valuable, not only because it's gold,
but because it represents thepresence of God.
You're going to watch thesepriests hold onto something
(06:05):
valuable and you're gonna watchall of God's people hold their
breath as they are called towalk through this river at the
worst time possible.
And if that is all that therewas in Joshua chapter three, it
would be good and it would begreat and it would be God
exalting.
But there's something going onunderneath that is bigger and
wider and stronger and far morepowerful, and I don't want a
(06:30):
single one of us to miss ittoday.
So I want you to begin watchingfor these deep underwater
currents, and I'm going to pointthem out for you as well.
Now, landry started in versefive, so let me show you what
happened to get us there inchapter three.
Then Joshua rose early in themorning.
They set out this would be onthe third day.
He gave everybody a heads upand they set out from Shittim
(06:51):
and they came to the Jordan, heand all the people of Israel,
and they lodged there beforethey passed over.
You'll notice I put that inbold At the end of three days
the officers went through thecamp, commanded the people Soon,
as you see the ark of thecovenant of the Lord, your God,
being carried by the Leviticalpriests.
You shall set out from yourplace and follow it.
Yet there shall be a distancebetween you and it, about 2000
(07:14):
cubits in length.
You guys know, 2000 cubits.
Do not come near it, in orderthat you may know the way you
should go, for you have notpassed this way before.
You're going to have to payattention on the screen for just
a minute here.
This word passed over.
I want you to realize this isone of the undercurrents that
(07:34):
would be easy to miss if you'rejust watching what's happening
on the surface.
This term Passover appears inchapter three six times.
You're going to read thisphrase.
It's the exact same word in theExodus account as when the
angel of death passed over God'speople who had placed their
trust in him by putting bloodover the doorpost.
(07:56):
If you want to see it, this iswhat it would look like.
I've got it highlighted in bluefor you.
It starts with a Passover, thenanother Passover.
Got it highlighted in blue foryou.
It starts with a Passover, thenanother Passover, passover,
passover, passover.
One of the things that would bevery easy to miss in Joshua
chapter three is this oh, okay,it's time to move from Moses to
Joshua.
Let's see what's new.
That's not actually what'shappening.
(08:17):
What's happening is God sayingit doesn't matter if it's Moses,
it doesn't matter if it'sJoshua, it doesn't matter if
it's Gideon.
There is this bigger, deeper,stronger, unrelenting pulling
force coursing through the riverof life.
In the story that I've written,I have made these promises.
I made promises to my people inslavery that death would pass
(08:40):
over, and now they are going topass Passover as my promises
pull them forward.
One of the fantastic thingsabout Joshua chapter 3 is the
way the story plays out.
Let me show you what I mean bythis.
In Moses, we have a Passover ofblood over a door I want you to
watch the balance of this, andMoses walks through water
(09:06):
running from death.
But when we get to Joshua, hewalks through water first, going
toward life, where there is awindow and a red thread dangling
from it.
Do you see the balance here?
We have red over a door as theyflee death.
We have red hanging from awindow because Rahab put the
(09:28):
cord out as they run toward life.
They walk through the waterhoping not to die.
They walk through the waterhoping to find newness in life,
and in the middle of thesethings is something that God's
people would not be able to seefor 1400 years.
You'll be able to see it inabout 14 minutes, depending on
(09:50):
if I cut or not.
This little middle area is oneof the courses, one of these
currents that I don't want youto miss, and this would be
another.
We move as God's people.
We are not called to beecstatic people.
That doesn't mean you can't diein the city that you were born
(10:11):
in, but what it does mean is youbetter be moving while you're
there.
It doesn't mean that youraddress has to change, but it
does mean that you need torecognize that you are a small
part of a great story, that youmay be an American, and that is
a wonderful thing, with allkinds of rights and privileges.
But if you're a Christian, youare more God's son than you are
anything else.
(10:31):
It is eternal, it is unchanging.
And so, as we move, what wewanna realize one of these
hidden currents is we move, butwe are never the first one to
move.
I jokingly mentioned the 2,000cubits in length.
Does anybody want to guess howlong that is?
I'm only giving you fiveseconds.
Okay, somebody got realspecific and has been Googling.
(10:53):
That's probably more specificthan what I'm going to tell you,
which is about half a mile.
If you don't know what half amile is, it's going to be a
little harder to help you.
Half a mile in Columbus is whenyou see the exit you're getting
off on.
Okay, generally speaking,that's about what half a mile is
.
If you're going 60 miles anhour, count to 30.
That's what half a mile wouldbe.
(11:15):
This is pretty fascinating,usually when God says don't come
near me.
Why is he saying it?
He doesn't want them to bekilled.
His holiness is great, theirsin is great.
These two things do not cometogether.
In fact, the only time holinessand sin come together is right
here, in a way that gives us anyhope at all, as Christ takes
(11:36):
the sin of his people, beingholy himself, drawing them near
to a holy God.
Why would God tell them to stayback about half a mile?
You would think in the reading.
It's because he's holy andthey're not.
That's not actually what thetext says.
What the text says is I don'twant you to come near it in
order that you may know the wayyou should go.
(11:57):
You ever been walking through anairport trying to find your
gate with a group of 15?
Because I have, and I can tellyou what happens if people walk
in horizontal lines.
Here's what happens You'relooking for terminal B17 and B1
through 16, or to the left, b17through 24, to the right, and
the dude who's paying attentionif you're in like this
(12:19):
horizontal line, sees it andturns and the moms or the
teenage girls or the guys whowere looking down playing brawl
stars or whatever, they justkeep on going.
They have no clue and off goes.
The group get to the gate andnow we're trying to make phone
calls to figure out where thislost person is.
God has given them enoughdistance so that they can see
(12:41):
where he is.
He's not so far away that theywould lose hope, but he is not
so near that they're almostblown away by it.
And one of the things that'sbeautiful about this is, I feel
like this is such a kindness toGod's people.
Hey, you're going somewhereyou've never been.
Can you let me take the firstfew steps for you?
This is God saying I'm nevergoing to lead you somewhere I've
(13:04):
never been.
If I'm going to ask you to walkthrough the waters of death,
I'm going to walk through thewaters of death first.
If I'm going to ask you to livea life that is righteous and
holy, I'm going to do it for youfirst, and I'm going to show
you what it ought to look like.
And you're going somewhere youhave never been before.
I think our lives would be morewhole.
I think we would find life moresatisfying and free if we would
(13:29):
embrace this simple truthChristians in the room, you're
called to follow.
I know that we want to beimpressive.
I know that as Americans, weare independent, we are pioneers
, we are called to follow, andit is a really good thing that
God doesn't get 10 miles out.
Some of us would love to knowwhat's going to happen 10 exits
in our life from now.
(13:50):
But God knows it's good for usnot to know that.
It's also really kind that Godgives us enough distance so that
we can get to the place and sayokay, god, I know what I would
do, but I don't want to do whatI would do.
I want to do what you would do.
This is us trusting that God isin control, that we can follow
him.
We do not need to see milesahead just enough to be able to
(14:13):
follow him, and I think thiswould change your homes.
I think it would change yourjobs, your relationships.
I think it would change ourchurch if we saw this reality as
a joyful thing.
Okay, god, so work is going tobe different than I thought it
was going to be.
I thought I was in this job for10 miles.
It looks like we're about toturn in half.
All right, well, where do youwant me to go, lord?
(14:34):
What do you want me to do whenit comes to my marriage or
getting married or any one of amillion different things?
When it comes to school or teamor dorm or sorority or anything
like this, all of thesebeautiful little things that we
get to pray for every week whenyou fill them out on the prayer
cards.
It is God telling his people me.
Being half a step ahead isexactly where you want for me to
(14:58):
be.
There's this really beautifulquote from David Dixon.
He was a pastor in the 15 and1600s.
Fair warning, I know that fallhas just begun.
I'm going to read a little oldEnglish to you.
So click in your thinking brainfor the moment.
How weak soever the believerfinds himself and how powerful
(15:19):
soever he perceives his enemy tobe, is all one to him.
Let me interpret perceives hisenemy to be is all one to him.
Let me interpret when you feelstrong and the enemy seems weak,
or when you feel weak and theenemy seems strong, it's all the
same thing.
It's all the same thing becauseit's never about your strength
or the strength of the enemy.
It is about the strength of theone that we follow.
(15:41):
He, the Christian, hath no moreto do but to put faith on works
and wait until God works.
It is our job to be faithful.
It is our job you're going tosee this to consecrate ourselves
.
It was one of the very firstthings that Landry read.
Our job is not to fret.
Our job is not to fear.
Our job is to follow and to sayGod, if you call me to turn
(16:03):
sooner than I expected or to golonger than I desired, it's all
the same to me so long as you'rethe one in front, and that is
what God wants his people to see.
Second deep current that isflowing through this has to do
with what we see in verse five.
Christians do get ready, but weget ready differently than the
(16:26):
world does.
Joshua said to the peopleconsecrate yourselves for
tomorrow.
The Lord will do wonders amongyou.
And Joshua said to the priesttake up the ark of the covenant,
pass on before the people.
So they took up the ark of thecovenant and they went before
the people, as God's presence isgoing before them.
He does give them this thing todo.
I want you to notice what hedoesn't give them to do.
(16:48):
He doesn't say.
Joshua said to the people I needthe wisest among you to come
and strategize with me.
We're going into a land wedon't know, against an enemy
that is more numerous than us.
I need a really good planningcommittee.
You're not going to see that.
What you don't see, that youwould expect would be, joshua
say I want all the military agemen up.
(17:10):
I want them doing pushups and Iwant them at PT.
I want the guys with thebiggest shields and the biggest
arms and the sharpest spears andthe best swords.
I want them ready to go, but wedon't actually see any of that.
There's no strategy, there's noplanning.
Here is what they do.
Hey, god is about to dosomething incredible in front of
us.
Let's be ready.
(17:31):
Their work, the work of theChristian, is not to be
impressive.
Christ is impressive enough.
Let them see Jesus.
They don't need to see you.
The work of the Christian is tofollow and say Lord, how can I
most be ready to receive?
I'll tell you what I love aboutthis.
So often when I meet withpeople and, by the way, we're at
(17:52):
a really neat season I thinksometimes this is good to share
with you.
Just a little behind thecurtain from the pastor in the
meetings he's been having overthe past two months.
Typically, the meetings that Ihave with people are heavy.
Typically, the meetings I havewith people are life is falling
apart, health is an issue,relationships are a problem, I
don't know how money's going towork.
(18:12):
That is all normal, typicalpastor stuff.
Can I tell you what's beenreally neat.
Over the past four weeks, I'vemet with more people than is
normal who are just saying thisWill?
I just feel like the Lord wantsme to follow him faithfully and
I'm not exactly sure how to dothat.
In the next season, beautiful,I will have coffee with you for
eight hours over stuff like that.
(18:33):
It's just people who are like Idon't feel like I'm sinning in
any profound way.
Don't get me wrong.
I'm sinful.
I still need the blood ofChrist to cover me, but I'm just
in this season where I want togrow.
I want to know Christ in adeeper way.
I want to serve the peoplearound me.
I want to live a life thatleaves a mark and a legacy for
my children or the people aroundme.
I've been walking through thissuffering for so long and I
(18:55):
finally got to the point whereI'm like well, maybe it'll just
be suffering, but it doesn'tmean I can't have joy.
That doesn't mean I can't lovethe Lord.
And when I look at this thiswhole idea of consecrate
yourselves one of the deepcurrents that runs under this is
that this is not a change.
This is God saying hey, I wantyou to make yourself holy, not
(19:17):
so that you can convince me todo something, but because I
don't want you to miss out onanything I'm doing.
This is the positive version ofholiness that we often look at
in the negative way.
This let me put an illustrationI think many of you will
appreciate.
I wake up in the morning everymorning and I look at my
calendar and I see what's comingand, based on what's coming, I
(19:39):
decide buttons or no buttons.
And okay, all right, I'm withmy people, if I might be a
little bit grosser, depending onthe day.
Let's say it's not a work dayand I'm going to meet Casey at
the gym later.
I wake up and I decide showeror no shower, and I'll tell you
why.
What I don't want to do is takea shower, walk outside in 180
(20:01):
billion degrees where it's humidas all get out.
I just took a shower.
Feels like it did nothing.
I work in the yard or I work onthe car and then I go to the
gym.
I'm like why am I going to takea shower?
That makes zero sensewhatsoever.
I'm about to walk out of thehouse and be gross for the next
six hours.
This is God saying hey, guesswhat?
You're about to go for a walk.
It's about to get really,really dusty.
(20:21):
This would be one of themornings where you would say, eh
, shower hashtag, maybe becausewe're about to go for a long
walk.
I got to keep up with the kids.
There's going to be dusteverywhere.
But what does God say?
Here's what I'm most concernedwith.
It's not your strategy and it'snot your strength.
I want you to make yourselfclean.
This would have been consecrateyourselves.
This would have been themphysically bathing themselves,
(20:43):
not only so that they wouldphysically be clean, but as a
sign.
By the way, back then theydidn't even take showers every
day.
So keep your judgment toyourself.
Maybe it's biblical, it'sreally not.
But whatever, I'm moving on.
They would have done this as asign of what they want.
Going on, they would have hit apause on marital intimacy.
They would have focused on thegoodness of God and who he is.
(21:05):
This was them.
It's more along the lines ofthem getting all cleaned up to
run down on Christmas morningfeeling fresh and new in their
pajamas, because God hassomething beautiful to give them
.
That's what's happening here.
It's not get holy so God willgive you what you want, or get
holy, because God will be angrywith you.
If you don't, it's get holy,because God doesn't want you to
(21:27):
miss out on any of the greatthings he's about to do right in
front of you.
And when you think about yourholiness and what that might
mean, don't get me wrong.
There may be some good thingsfor you to stop.
There may be some good thingsfor you to start, but appreciate
the order.
They're not convincing God ofanything.
He's already said this promiseis going to happen.
(21:49):
He's already in the midst ofdoing it.
He wants them to be holy sothey don't miss out on him.
Be holy so they don't miss outon him.
The other deep current that Iwant you to see is that we move,
but we move based on hispromises and his word.
If you look real closely andthis screen's very small, so
you're going to have to lookreal closely Joshua isn't even
(22:11):
the one who starts moving.
He's not the one who leads.
Joshua sends the priests, hesends the presence of God first.
If I'm walking into enemyterritory, I'll tell you what
I'm not putting in front my wifeand my children.
They're valuable, they'revulnerable.
I'm going to put those strongdudes who have been doing their
pushups every day with shieldsand swords and spears.
(22:33):
That's who I'm putting in front.
God's people.
No, god goes in front of them.
The most valuable, vulnerablething walks through first.
One of the reasons I put thisscreen up the way I did is
because I want to show youanother parentheses of thought.
It's in verse 9 through 11.
So I'm putting it inparentheses now You're going to
(22:54):
notice I skip it when I read.
I will come back and read it,you'll see why.
Momentarily, the Lord said toJoshua today I will begin to
exalt you in the sight of allIsrael, that they may know that,
as I was with Moses, so I'll bewith you.
And as for you, command thepriests who bear the ark of the
covenant.
When you come to the brink ofthe waters of the Jordan, of the
(23:20):
waters of the Jordan, you shallstand in the Jordan.
Pause on verse nine and thestory picks up in 12.
Now, therefore, take 12 menfrom the tribes of Israel, for
from each man a tribe.
You'll find out why later inthe chapters ahead.
And when the souls of the feetof the priest bearing the ark of
the Lord, when the mostvaluable thing, walks into muddy
water, the Lord thing walksinto muddy water.
(23:41):
The Lord, the Lord of all theearth shall rest in the waters
of the Jordan.
The waters of the Jordan shallbe cut off from flowing and the
waters coming down from aboveshall stand in one heap.
Now why did I pause and put theparentheses there?
That's the story.
You're going to carry the ark,you're going to walk into the
river, the priests are going tocarry it.
Once they step into the water,I'm going to do a miracle in
front of you and all of a sudden, it's going to turn into dry
(24:02):
land.
Why do I put this inparentheses?
Because Joshua pauses and he,he sort of quietly, speaks to
the people.
This isn't narrative, this ishis thought.
Joshua said to the people ofIsrael come here, listen to the
words of the Lord, your God.
I don't want you to miss this.
You're gonna see somethingmiraculous, but I don't want you
(24:27):
to miss something even moremiraculous.
Joshua said here is how youshall know that the living God
is among you, that he will,without fail, drive out from
before you Landry way to goites,hittites, hivites, perizzites,
girishites, amorites, jebusites.
Here's how you're going to know.
Behold, the ark of the covenantof the Lord of all the earth is
passing over before you in theJordan.
(24:48):
This little parentheses isJoshua doing something
fascinating.
I want to show it to you.
I know it's too small to see,so I went ahead and color-coded
it.
This is Joshua looking at thegeneration that chose to be
strong and courageous.
If you haven't been with us forthe past couple of weeks, I
can't get you all the way caughtup, but what you need to know
(25:08):
is what you're seeing.
In Deuteronomy 7 was said to ageneration who was supposed to
come into this land, but theysaw all of these ites and they
got scared and they ran home andthey wandered for 40 years as a
result of it, until they died.
But their children, who sawtheir lack of faith and learn
from their lack of faith, theyall of a sudden have a very
(25:31):
different expression and Joshuahuddles them up and he says you
remember that promise that wasgiven to your mom and your dad.
You're gonna fulfill it.
And by name, joshua calls outtheir enemies in front of the
Lord.
Do you know why this wouldmatter to me If I was leading a
group of people and for the nextnumber of years we were going
(25:52):
to be going into battles?
Do you know how confirming itis that I can say hey, I
remember this.
Joshua pulled us to the side.
We're about to go into the landof the Amorites.
It's been a while since wetalked, but I remember that
river being ripped open.
I remember walking through onsolid ground and I remember it
(26:12):
was more than just a miracle, itwas a promise.
It was Joshua saying God hasn'tstopped keeping his promises.
Will we be a holy people sothat we will not miss out?
This is one of the deepestcurrents, but the final current
that I want you to see, the onethat we'll explore for just a
(26:34):
moment together, is this realitywhen Christians move, they
never, ever move alone.
Who is it that goes with us?
I'm going to build, by the way,note takers.
I'm going to build a littlelist.
Okay, y'all always get upset ifI go too fast and you tell me I
click my slides too quickly.
It is now on you.
(26:56):
I'm letting you know and Itried to keep all my sentences
so short who goes with us?
A God who is sovereign over all.
How sovereign this sovereign.
Behold, the ark of the covenantof the Lord of all the earth is
passing over before you, whenthe souls of the feet of the
(27:17):
priest bearing the ark of theLord of all the earth is passing
over before you, when the soulsof the feet of the priests
bearing the ark of the Lord.
Which Lord, the Lord of all theearth?
Ruth's confession in chaptertwo.
I know that the Lord Yahweh,god, your God, who I don't know
but I long to know.
I know that the Lord of all theearth is in charge of you and
(27:37):
he is in charge of your people.
We are following a God who issovereign over all things.
Every plan, every day written,every decision of the multiverse
of your life has been seen andwritten and cared for, and it is
known and how is it known?
By the Lord of all the earth.
(27:57):
This is not some little tribaldeity doing his absolute best to
nudge a river to the side sohis people can move.
No, this is the creator of theuniverse, who placed stars in
their spot, who told this river.
This is where you will go onthis day, saying not now river,
(28:19):
back it up just a bit.
When I read this, I'll tell youwhat it makes me think of.
We were doing Bible time withour kids earlier in the week and
we were reading the story ofthe disciples in the boat when
Jesus is asleep.
He's asleep and the storm kicksup and they're afraid that
they're about to die.
And Jesus is like getting allthe Z's hitting the snooze down
(28:40):
in the bottom of the boat.
Why?
Because God is sovereign overall.
He's not worried about this day.
He knows his day and he knowsGod knows his day.
So Jesus pops up from thebottom, he walks up to the sea
and he says hey, hush, be still.
And what did the disciples do?
Marvel, and Jesus looks at him.
He says hey, hush, be still.
And what did the disciples do?
Marvel, and Jesus looks at him.
He says you of little faith.
(29:00):
I'll be honest with you.
That does hit me in the feels alittle bit.
I'm like what did, like what arewe supposed to expect?
If I'm in a boat and I'm aboutto die, crying out to the Lord
seems like the right thing to do.
But here's what I would venture.
The next time they hop in aboat which we know they do and
(29:21):
the next time a storm comes up,do you think they respond a
little bit differently?
You better believe they, do youbetter believe?
When the wind kicks up and thewaves smack them in the face,
they look at that wave and,instead of fearing, they smile.
Why?
Because their God is sovereignover all.
If it is their day, it is theirday, and if it is not, they can
get pitched into the water.
(29:41):
Maybe a fish will come andgobble them up for just a moment
, but they have nothing to fear,christian.
Nothing to fear nothing.
The God who knows you and lovesyou and called you.
He is sovereign over all yourdays.
Secondly, the God who goes withus is a God who invites those,
even with the littlest of faith.
(30:06):
I really love how God did this.
He could have expected bigfaith.
He could have said all right,here's what I want.
I want the priest to carry themost valuable thing.
I want them to go forward infront and I want them to wade
out into the middle of the riverduring its flood stage.
That's not what he says.
I mean, check this out when thesouls of the feet of the priest
(30:30):
bearing the ark, as soon asthose bearing the ark come as
far as the Jordan and their feetare dipped in the brink of the
water.
I mean this is like when youtalk about, like putting your
toe in the waters of faith.
This is what we're talkingabout.
These priests are like allright, let's see how it goes.
Oh, my goodness, that wasinsane.
(30:51):
Like that's how it plays out.
Their faith is to put their toein the water.
That's what they are called todo, and as soon as they do, the
water's coming down from above.
Stand up and this heap of waterbegins to build.
When you look at your life, Iknow that there are a number of
things that God is gonna callyou to be faithful in.
(31:13):
I'm looking at your faces nowand I know, because I pray with
you and I talk with you, whatmany of your toe-in-the-water
faith ought to be.
Guys, this is a joy.
This is the difference infeeling hesitant and feeling
like God wants to display hisgoodness in front of you.
(31:34):
What is it for you to put yourtoe in?
The water of faith?
Look, there are going to beseasons where God asks you to
baptize yourself in faith, whereyou have to lay headlong into
difficulty.
But for many of us, this is howlife plays out One toe in, and
some seasons you're going to becarrying a light load.
(31:55):
And in carrying that light load, you're going to be on solid
ground and it's going to feeleasy.
Some seasons you're going to becarrying a heavy, valuable load
.
You're going to look at themarriage you're trying to
shepherd, the business thatyou're trying to lead, the
children that you're trying topoint to students, or the
players that you are leading.
You're going to have thesethings underneath you that you
(32:16):
want to lead and shepherd well,and you're going to be carrying
something heavy, hopefully onsolid ground.
But there are going to beseasons, like this, where you
feel like you are carryingsomething that is far too
valuable for you the life thatis in your hands, the decisions
that lie before you.
And God calls them to carry themost heavy, valuable thing they
(32:39):
will ever have in their livesinto the soggiest, most unstable
water that they can imagine.
And he says I need you to putyour foot in before the ground
gets solid.
I need you to show me that youtrust me.
Ever so little faith, but itmatters to God.
The psalmist understood this in18.
(33:02):
Who is God but the Lord, andwho is a rock except our God?
Is there anything more stablethan our God, the one who
equipped me with strength?
He made my way blameless.
I couldn't make my wayblameless.
I couldn't be holy, I couldn'tbe consecrated.
He did this on my behalf.
He made my feet like the feetof a deer.
He sent me secure on theheights.
(33:23):
I know that a number of you arehunters.
I'd be willing to bet yourexperience is the same as mine.
I've never seen a deer twist anankle.
I don't know if that's exactlywhy this is in here, but I'll
tell you.
When I'm in a stand they seemto be awfully nimble, especially
if they have figured out whereI am.
Never twist an ankle, nevermiss spot bounding around.
This is who God makes his peopletrains our hands for war so
(33:45):
that we can bend a bow of bronze.
He has given me the shield ofyour salvation.
What do I have to fear if Iknow that my eternity is covered
?
Your right hand, you, god, gaveme a wide place for my steps.
Do you realize that that isspoken over you, even when we
(34:08):
feel like we are on a balancingbeam?
If we could see by faith, awide path has been opened up for
us.
The Lord lives.
Blessed be my rock and exaltedbe the God of my salvation.
Carrie, is that a Sandy Pattysong?
Blessed be the rock and may theGod of my salvation be.
(34:29):
I do too.
I think my mom used to play itby cassette tape.
Speaker 2 (34:33):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (34:35):
Who goes with us, a God who is supernatural in power
this is one of my favoritethings.
As soon as those bearing theark had come as far as the
Jordan now, the Jordan overflowsall its banks throughout the
time of the harvest, the waterscoming down from above.
They stood, they rose up inthis massive heap.
(34:58):
And the priest bearing the ark?
They stood firmly on dry ground, firmly on dry ground.
The God that we follow issupernatural.
We are fortunate enough to livevery near a really cool river
and at about five o'clock theChattahoochee opens up and the
(35:18):
rivers begin to overflow theirbanks.
And when it does, that is notthe time you cross the river.
Bad call.
But here God waits until thismassive flow begins to come.
Why?
Because when the waters ofdifficulty rise, we are prone to
(35:39):
assume that God isn't presentor God doesn't care.
But God often raises the waterlevel of our difficulty in front
of us to show us that the onlyway we're going to make it
across is with Him and with Himalone.
God's greatest kindness isoften hidden in your conflict,
and if you're too busy trying toget out of the conflict, trying
(36:01):
to figure out how you're goingto circumvent the river or build
a boat to get across thisdifficulty.
You may never have the presenceof mind to pause and say God
called, allowed and brought.
Maybe I should just put my footin this thing and see if God
will not make a way.
Many times, the kindness of Godis hidden in the conflict and
(36:21):
that's one of the treasures ofthis passage that God will
occasionally allow your marriageto get worse.
He'll allow your job to getworse.
He will allow your health tofail.
He'll allow your adult childrento wander.
Why?
Because many times, god'sgreatest kindness is often
hidden in conflict.
Watch.
Here's what a Christian oughtto do.
(36:41):
A Christian ought to watch forthe waters to rise and then do
this.
Okay, let's see how this playsout.
God is sovereign, all powerful,in control.
Loves me.
Let's get my toe in this waterand see if he will not do
something absolutely amazing.
The God who goes with us is aGod who can actually be followed
(37:02):
.
This is my favorite, myfavorite.
I'm a science guy.
I love this.
Actually, this is my secondfavorite.
Here is where God's people began.
Here is where they are on theirway.
You will notice they arecrossing this sea sorry, not sea
this river right here, now, ifyou pay close attention in the
text, the Bible tells you whereGod stores all the water that he
(37:26):
held up.
The waters coming down fromabove stood and rose up in a
heap very far away at Adam.
I know it says Adam it'sactually pronounced Adam the
city that is beside Zarethan,which means, for those of you
who remember being in the sixthgrade and doing map work, if you
take this little scale and youapply it to, here's Adam, here's
where they cross, god carriedthat water 15 miles and he stuck
(37:52):
it over there.
Now here's my question why onearth would God do that?
When you picture Moses walkingthrough the Red Sea, where's the
Red Sea?
When they go through it, it'slike right there.
Have you not seen the littlefishies swimming by as they go
through?
In every little movie that youhave ever seen here, it is 15
miles away.
If you're standing on flatground in Texas, you can see 16
(38:15):
miles before the curvature ofthe earth cuts you off.
What's really fascinating aboutthis is if this water was
flowing at the same rate as theChattahoochee, which is some.
I did the math on this.
I say that I've just got areally good account on chat GPT
Chattahoochee river right downthe way.
169 million gallons of water inan hour.
(38:35):
If you started filling up afootball field, I think we all
know what that is.
One week away, if you startfilling up a football field,
then it would be 40 stories higheach hour.
That's how much water we'retalking about.
That doesn't take into accountthe 15 miles of water that was
(38:56):
already sitting in the riverthat God scooped up.
What on earth is God doing here?
Is he making firm ground forhis people to cross?
You better believe he is.
Are they walking through singlefile like we feel like they did
in Exodus?
It doesn't seem so.
It seems like God grabbed thatriver, which he put there anyway
.
He rips it up 15 miles and hesays here's a wide way for you
(39:18):
to walk through.
Cross it in 10 minutes if youwant to.
It's plenty wide.
But the longer you go, the moreincredible my miracle is going
to become, and, and and everyother nation would have been
able to see this.
You see, god isn't just doingthis to save his people or to
give hope to his people.
He's doing this to declaresomething I am the God who
(39:40):
created it all.
Where is your faith?
Who are you trusting this is aGod who is bringing a far better
kingdom.
He's sovereign over all,invites those with little faith
to put their toe in the water.
He is supernatural in power andhe actually can be followed,
and he is a God who is bringinga far, far better kingdom.
(40:04):
You see, when all of that waterbegins piling up here in Adam,
every nation sees it and theyrealize our kingdoms cannot
stand against a God like this,and I'll prove it to you.
I'll prove it to you by readingtheir own thoughts in Joshua 5.
(40:25):
As soon as all the kings of theAmorites who were beyond the
Jordan to the west, and all thekings of the Canaanites who were
by the sea heard that the Lordhad dried up the waters of the
Jordan for the people of Israeluntil they had crossed over,
their hearts melted.
There was no longer any spiritin them.
Because of the people of Israel, god is putting on display I
(40:46):
love you, I care about you, I ampowerful, you can follow me.
Little faith is enough.
Would you put your toe in thewater when you're carrying a
heavy load and it feels like theground underneath you is not
stable?
I am stable enough and thewhole world is going to know who
I am.
Don't you want to be on theright side of it?
Don't you want to navigate lifewith joy and expectation
(41:09):
instead of fear and trepidation?
That is who we follow, and thereason that we follow him is
because this is a God.
One of my slides isn't working.
It's my last slide.
It's my favorite slide.
It's working here.
It's my last slide.
It's my favorite slide.
It's working here.
It's not working there.
(41:30):
It's a pretty big iPad.
All of these things are truebecause this is a God who has
been telling this story allalong.
You're ready to be blown away.
Then Jesus came from Galilee tothe Jordan, to John, to be
(41:57):
baptized by him.
John would have prevented him.
He would have prevented Jesus,saying I need to be baptized by
you and do you come to me toreceive baptism.
But Jesus answered him.
Let it be so now, for thus itis fitting for us to fulfill all
righteousness.
We don't know exactly, but doyou know where we think Jesus
(42:18):
got baptized?
Here's where we think he gotbaptized.
In our story, they were passingfrom here to here.
Got baptized In our story, theywere passing from here to here.
You'll notice Jericho is righthere, dead Sea below and here's
the river, all the way up toAdam.
And then, when we look atChrist and his baptism, we know
(42:38):
that he was baptized nearBethany by the Jordan, in the
very same stretch of river where, 1400 years ago, god had called
his people to pass through onsolid ground.
Do you think God wasn't thinkingahead 1400 years?
Do you think God wasn'tthinking ahead and saying look,
(43:00):
I know that you may be a littlebit nervous, but can I tell you,
you are about to walk throughthis flood, you're about to walk
through it, but my son will bebaptized into it.
You will see something that isterrifying and wide and deep and
great, and I will do a miracleso that it doesn't overwhel over
(43:25):
him.
Moses walks through water ondry ground.
Joshua walks through water ondry, solid ground.
That is why and we ought tohave known, because we have this
(43:56):
as a sure and steadfast angerof the soul, a hope that enters
into the inner place, behind thecurtain, where Jesus has gone
as a forerunner on our behalf,jesus runs headlong into the
waters of wrath and the watersend up running from him, because
he is greater than death.
(44:17):
He is greater than anything andany enemy that you will ever
see why, so that those of us cansee this deeper promise that
has always been pulling.
And we can see that, no matterwhat life looks like, christian,
you have solid ground to standon because you are standing on
the one who went before you.
(44:37):
You are standing on the one whotook what you deserved.
And if you're not trusting inChrist, do you see this offer?
It's not getting clean so thatGod will do something.
It's not needing massive faith.
It's you saying I feel prettyunstable.
God, would you make my feetsure?
Yeah, I certainly will, ifyou'll put them in the right
place.
Let today be the day whereevery one of us put our toe in
(45:02):
the water.
I don't know what you need tofind in Christ today, but I know
that he has all of this and amillion blessings more.
Let today be a day where wewalk through life on solid
ground, faithfully, because heis in control and he loves us.
If you want to receive prayer,if you want to come down and
(45:22):
talk with a pastor, if you wantto celebrate what God is doing
in your life, we'll have somefolks on the back porch behind
me.
Take a moment, think and ponder, and then the worship team will
lead us from there.
While you guys are settling in Landry, will let you
know where we're going to bereading from as we continue our
time in the book of Joshua.
If you hadn't had a chance tograb a journal, we've got a few
of them floating around for youto grab at your leisure Landry.
Where are we going to be?
Speaker 2 (00:16):
We're going to be in Joshua 3, 5 through 11 today.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
I'm acting like I don't know.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Which is page 179 in the Pew Bibles.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
I feel, pretty confident.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
I know where we're going.
So I'm going to count to 10,awkwardly while y'all turn there
in my head.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
By the way, if you don't have a Bible, you're
welcome to take one of the PewBibles and just make that your
own as a gift from us to you.
For what it's worth, it's nicerthan a typical Pew Bible.
For what it's worth, it's notas nice as a Bible you could
probably get for $20 or $25.
And so you decide.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Cool.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
Landry has a very nice Bible.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
Okay, we're going to start in verse five, sorry.
Okay, verse 5.
And Joshua said to the peopleof Israel Come here and listen
(01:39):
to the words of the Lord, yourGod.
And Joshua said here is how youshall know that the living God
is among you and that he will.
He will, without fail, driveout from before you the
Canaanites, the Hittites, theHivites, the Perizzites, the
Girgashites, the Amorites andthe Jebusites.
Behold, the ark of the covenantof the Lord and all the earth
(01:59):
is passing over before you intothe Jordan.
This is the word of the Lord.
Hey, killer job.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
Yeah, did you practice?
Way to go?
Yeah, way to go, way to go, allright.
One of the things I want you tonotice before we go any further
in the text is when God saysokay, today you are going to
know that as I was with Moses,so I am going to be with you.
So there's going to be thissort of obvious passing of the
(02:26):
torch from Moses to Joshua, andI want to show you in a unique
way how this is going to happen.
You'll see it.
I think guys maybe is it me oris it you there we go All right.
In verse 15, there's this, infact, most of you in your Bibles
.
If you want to look in verse 15, chapter three, you'll probably
see a parentheses there.
(02:46):
There are two parentheses inour passage.
One of them is physically aparentheses and it's this in
verse 15.
Now, the Jordan overflows allof its banks throughout the time
of the harvest.
It just sits right in themiddle of our passage.
What I want you to begin towrestle with and ask the
question is this why would Godchoose for his people to cross a
(03:12):
river, going into the land thathe has called them to, at the
worst possible time in the flowcycle of the river, of the God
who knows all things.
Whenever I go to the beach,especially with my nieces and my
nephews, our family has so manybeach toys.
It's ridiculous, somethingabout having a number of kids
(03:34):
all squeezed.
Right now we're at 16, 14, 12,and 10.
And so this summer we wereaging out of our beach toys.
My kids aren't playing withshovels anymore and little pails
and little toys.
They want to catch fish andthey, you know, want to
skimboard and do things likethat.
So I packed every beach toy wehave ever had from our basement
(03:54):
into the car when we drove downto the beach and on like day
three, I pulled every single oneof them out to the beach and
one of three things was going tohappen it was going to show, to
be broken, no longer needed,useful or desired, and it was
going to go into the garbage canor some other neighboring
little kid was going to wanderby and they were just going to
have the greatest day ever asthey got all of this stuff.
(04:14):
It was going to get used and Iknew I needed to keep it, or
maybe that was just it.
I thought there were three oh,oh, or we realized it would work
if we had a piece, and then Igot on Amazon and I ordered the
piece, so like we finally had amuch more small, like little kit
of our summer stuff.
One of my niece and nephew'sfavorite toys is this little
(04:38):
surfer guy.
And this little surfer guy sitson a floating board and you
just chuck the thing into thewaves.
He always pops upright, healways rides a wave in, and then
they joyfully run down thebeach, pick it up and throw it
back in.
All right, let me tell you what.
I'm telling you this To them,all of the power and all of the
(04:59):
excitement is on top of thewater.
They're trying to throw thisguy right into the curl of a
wave.
They want to throw it as far asthey can, to the biggest wave
that they can, so that they seethis little guy get the longest
ride that he can.
But if they go to pick it uptoo early, here's what happens
they run out to get it and theunseen force underneath them,
(05:21):
which is actually much strongerthat current underneath, sucks
them off their feet, and thenwhat was a wonderful time
becomes a very difficult time.
Let me tell you why.
I want you to think about thatand why I want you to think
about this.
Here's what you're going to beprone to see in reading Joshua 3
.
You're going to be prone to seea guy named Joshua holding on
(05:42):
to the reins as he leads peoplethrough the Jordan River.
You're going to be prone to seethese priests holding onto an
ark which is incredibly valuable, like one time it almost fell.
Some guy touched it and he wasstruck dead.
So we're talking about valuable, not only because it's gold,
but because it represents thepresence of God.
You're going to watch thesepriests hold onto something
(06:05):
valuable and you're gonna watchall of God's people hold their
breath as they are called towalk through this river at the
worst time possible.
And if that is all that therewas in Joshua chapter three, it
would be good and it would begreat and it would be God
exalting.
But there's something going onunderneath that is bigger and
wider and stronger and far morepowerful, and I don't want a
(06:30):
single one of us to miss ittoday.
So I want you to begin watchingfor these deep underwater
currents, and I'm going to pointthem out for you as well.
Now, landry started in versefive, so let me show you what
happened to get us there inchapter three.
Then Joshua rose early in themorning.
They set out this would be onthe third day.
He gave everybody a heads upand they set out from Shittim
(06:51):
and they came to the Jordan, heand all the people of Israel,
and they lodged there beforethey passed over.
You'll notice I put that inbold At the end of three days
the officers went through thecamp, commanded the people Soon,
as you see the ark of thecovenant of the Lord, your God,
being carried by the Leviticalpriests.
You shall set out from yourplace and follow it.
Yet there shall be a distancebetween you and it, about 2000
(07:14):
cubits in length.
You guys know, 2000 cubits.
Do not come near it, in orderthat you may know the way you
should go, for you have notpassed this way before.
You're going to have to payattention on the screen for just
a minute here.
This word passed over.
I want you to realize this isone of the undercurrents that
(07:34):
would be easy to miss if you'rejust watching what's happening
on the surface.
This term Passover appears inchapter three six times.
You're going to read thisphrase.
It's the exact same word in theExodus account as when the
angel of death passed over God'speople who had placed their
trust in him by putting bloodover the doorpost.
(07:56):
If you want to see it, this iswhat it would look like.
I've got it highlighted in bluefor you.
It starts with a Passover, thenanother Passover.
Got it highlighted in blue foryou.
It starts with a Passover, thenanother Passover, passover,
passover, passover.
One of the things that would bevery easy to miss in Joshua
chapter three is this oh, okay,it's time to move from Moses to
Joshua.
Let's see what's new.
That's not actually what'shappening.
(08:17):
What's happening is God sayingit doesn't matter if it's Moses,
it doesn't matter if it'sJoshua, it doesn't matter if
it's Gideon.
There is this bigger, deeper,stronger, unrelenting pulling
force coursing through the riverof life.
In the story that I've written,I have made these promises.
I made promises to my people inslavery that death would pass
(08:40):
over, and now they are going topass Passover as my promises
pull them forward.
One of the fantastic thingsabout Joshua chapter 3 is the
way the story plays out.
Let me show you what I mean bythis.
In Moses, we have a Passover ofblood over a door I want you to
watch the balance of this, andMoses walks through water
(09:06):
running from death.
But when we get to Joshua, hewalks through water first, going
toward life, where there is awindow and a red thread dangling
from it.
Do you see the balance here?
We have red over a door as theyflee death.
We have red hanging from awindow because Rahab put the
(09:28):
cord out as they run toward life.
They walk through the waterhoping not to die.
They walk through the waterhoping to find newness in life,
and in the middle of thesethings is something that God's
people would not be able to seefor 1400 years.
You'll be able to see it inabout 14 minutes, depending on
(09:50):
if I cut or not.
This little middle area is oneof the courses, one of these
currents that I don't want youto miss, and this would be
another.
We move as God's people.
We are not called to beecstatic people.
That doesn't mean you can't diein the city that you were born
(10:11):
in, but what it does mean is youbetter be moving while you're
there.
It doesn't mean that youraddress has to change, but it
does mean that you need torecognize that you are a small
part of a great story, that youmay be an American, and that is
a wonderful thing, with allkinds of rights and privileges.
But if you're a Christian, youare more God's son than you are
anything else.
(10:31):
It is eternal, it is unchanging.
And so, as we move, what wewanna realize one of these
hidden currents is we move, butwe are never the first one to
move.
I jokingly mentioned the 2,000cubits in length.
Does anybody want to guess howlong that is?
I'm only giving you fiveseconds.
Okay, somebody got realspecific and has been Googling.
(10:53):
That's probably more specificthan what I'm going to tell you,
which is about half a mile.
If you don't know what half amile is, it's going to be a
little harder to help you.
Half a mile in Columbus is whenyou see the exit you're getting
off on.
Okay, generally speaking,that's about what half a mile is
.
If you're going 60 miles anhour, count to 30.
That's what half a mile wouldbe.
(11:15):
This is pretty fascinating,usually when God says don't come
near me.
Why is he saying it?
He doesn't want them to bekilled.
His holiness is great, theirsin is great.
These two things do not cometogether.
In fact, the only time holinessand sin come together is right
here, in a way that gives us anyhope at all, as Christ takes
(11:36):
the sin of his people, beingholy himself, drawing them near
to a holy God.
Why would God tell them to stayback about half a mile?
You would think in the reading.
It's because he's holy andthey're not.
That's not actually what thetext says.
What the text says is I don'twant you to come near it in
order that you may know the wayyou should go.
(11:57):
You ever been walking through anairport trying to find your
gate with a group of 15?
Because I have, and I can tellyou what happens if people walk
in horizontal lines.
Here's what happens You'relooking for terminal B17 and B1
through 16, or to the left, b17through 24, to the right, and
the dude who's paying attentionif you're in like this
(12:19):
horizontal line, sees it andturns and the moms or the
teenage girls or the guys whowere looking down playing brawl
stars or whatever, they justkeep on going.
They have no clue and off goes.
The group get to the gate andnow we're trying to make phone
calls to figure out where thislost person is.
God has given them enoughdistance so that they can see
(12:41):
where he is.
He's not so far away that theywould lose hope, but he is not
so near that they're almostblown away by it.
And one of the things that'sbeautiful about this is, I feel
like this is such a kindness toGod's people.
Hey, you're going somewhereyou've never been.
Can you let me take the firstfew steps for you?
This is God saying I'm nevergoing to lead you somewhere I've
(13:04):
never been.
If I'm going to ask you to walkthrough the waters of death,
I'm going to walk through thewaters of death first.
If I'm going to ask you to livea life that is righteous and
holy, I'm going to do it for youfirst, and I'm going to show
you what it ought to look like.
And you're going somewhere youhave never been before.
I think our lives would be morewhole.
I think we would find life moresatisfying and free if we would
(13:29):
embrace this simple truthChristians in the room, you're
called to follow.
I know that we want to beimpressive.
I know that as Americans, weare independent, we are pioneers
, we are called to follow, andit is a really good thing that
God doesn't get 10 miles out.
Some of us would love to knowwhat's going to happen 10 exits
in our life from now.
(13:50):
But God knows it's good for usnot to know that.
It's also really kind that Godgives us enough distance so that
we can get to the place and sayokay, god, I know what I would
do, but I don't want to do whatI would do.
I want to do what you would do.
This is us trusting that God isin control, that we can follow
him.
We do not need to see milesahead just enough to be able to
(14:13):
follow him, and I think thiswould change your homes.
I think it would change yourjobs, your relationships.
I think it would change ourchurch if we saw this reality as
a joyful thing.
Okay, god, so work is going tobe different than I thought it
was going to be.
I thought I was in this job for10 miles.
It looks like we're about toturn in half.
All right, well, where do youwant me to go, lord?
(14:34):
What do you want me to do whenit comes to my marriage or
getting married or any one of amillion different things?
When it comes to school or teamor dorm or sorority or anything
like this, all of thesebeautiful little things that we
get to pray for every week whenyou fill them out on the prayer
cards.
It is God telling his people me.
Being half a step ahead isexactly where you want for me to
(14:58):
be.
There's this really beautifulquote from David Dixon.
He was a pastor in the 15 and1600s.
Fair warning, I know that fallhas just begun.
I'm going to read a little oldEnglish to you.
So click in your thinking brainfor the moment.
How weak soever the believerfinds himself and how powerful
(15:19):
soever he perceives his enemy tobe, is all one to him.
Let me interpret perceives hisenemy to be is all one to him.
Let me interpret when you feelstrong and the enemy seems weak,
or when you feel weak and theenemy seems strong, it's all the
same thing.
It's all the same thing becauseit's never about your strength
or the strength of the enemy.
It is about the strength of theone that we follow.
(15:41):
He, the Christian, hath no moreto do but to put faith on works
and wait until God works.
It is our job to be faithful.
It is our job you're going tosee this to consecrate ourselves
.
It was one of the very firstthings that Landry read.
Our job is not to fret.
Our job is not to fear.
Our job is to follow and to sayGod, if you call me to turn
(16:03):
sooner than I expected or to golonger than I desired, it's all
the same to me so long as you'rethe one in front, and that is
what God wants his people to see.
Second deep current that isflowing through this has to do
with what we see in verse five.
Christians do get ready, but weget ready differently than the
(16:26):
world does.
Joshua said to the peopleconsecrate yourselves for
tomorrow.
The Lord will do wonders amongyou.
And Joshua said to the priesttake up the ark of the covenant,
pass on before the people.
So they took up the ark of thecovenant and they went before
the people, as God's presence isgoing before them.
He does give them this thing todo.
I want you to notice what hedoesn't give them to do.
(16:48):
He doesn't say.
Joshua said to the people I needthe wisest among you to come
and strategize with me.
We're going into a land wedon't know, against an enemy
that is more numerous than us.
I need a really good planningcommittee.
You're not going to see that.
What you don't see, that youwould expect would be, joshua
say I want all the military agemen up.
(17:10):
I want them doing pushups and Iwant them at PT.
I want the guys with thebiggest shields and the biggest
arms and the sharpest spears andthe best swords.
I want them ready to go, but wedon't actually see any of that.
There's no strategy, there's noplanning.
Here is what they do.
Hey, god is about to dosomething incredible in front of
us.
Let's be ready.
(17:31):
Their work, the work of theChristian, is not to be
impressive.
Christ is impressive enough.
Let them see Jesus.
They don't need to see you.
The work of the Christian is tofollow and say Lord, how can I
most be ready to receive?
I'll tell you what I love aboutthis.
So often when I meet withpeople and, by the way, we're at
(17:52):
a really neat season I thinksometimes this is good to share
with you.
Just a little behind thecurtain from the pastor in the
meetings he's been having overthe past two months.
Typically, the meetings that Ihave with people are heavy.
Typically, the meetings I havewith people are life is falling
apart, health is an issue,relationships are a problem, I
don't know how money's going towork.
(18:12):
That is all normal, typicalpastor stuff.
Can I tell you what's beenreally neat.
Over the past four weeks, I'vemet with more people than is
normal who are just saying thisWill?
I just feel like the Lord wantsme to follow him faithfully and
I'm not exactly sure how to dothat.
In the next season, beautiful,I will have coffee with you for
eight hours over stuff like that.
(18:33):
It's just people who are like Idon't feel like I'm sinning in
any profound way.
Don't get me wrong.
I'm sinful.
I still need the blood ofChrist to cover me, but I'm just
in this season where I want togrow.
I want to know Christ in adeeper way.
I want to serve the peoplearound me.
I want to live a life thatleaves a mark and a legacy for
my children or the people aroundme.
I've been walking through thissuffering for so long and I
(18:55):
finally got to the point whereI'm like well, maybe it'll just
be suffering, but it doesn'tmean I can't have joy.
That doesn't mean I can't lovethe Lord.
And when I look at this thiswhole idea of consecrate
yourselves one of the deepcurrents that runs under this is
that this is not a change.
This is God saying hey, I wantyou to make yourself holy, not
(19:17):
so that you can convince me todo something, but because I
don't want you to miss out onanything I'm doing.
This is the positive version ofholiness that we often look at
in the negative way.
This let me put an illustrationI think many of you will
appreciate.
I wake up in the morning everymorning and I look at my
calendar and I see what's comingand, based on what's coming, I
(19:39):
decide buttons or no buttons.
And okay, all right, I'm withmy people, if I might be a
little bit grosser, depending onthe day.
Let's say it's not a work dayand I'm going to meet Casey at
the gym later.
I wake up and I decide showeror no shower, and I'll tell you
why.
What I don't want to do is takea shower, walk outside in 180
(20:01):
billion degrees where it's humidas all get out.
I just took a shower.
Feels like it did nothing.
I work in the yard or I work onthe car and then I go to the
gym.
I'm like why am I going to takea shower?
That makes zero sensewhatsoever.
I'm about to walk out of thehouse and be gross for the next
six hours.
This is God saying hey, guesswhat?
You're about to go for a walk.
It's about to get really,really dusty.
(20:21):
This would be one of themornings where you would say, eh
, shower hashtag, maybe becausewe're about to go for a long
walk.
I got to keep up with the kids.
There's going to be dusteverywhere.
But what does God say?
Here's what I'm most concernedwith.
It's not your strategy and it'snot your strength.
I want you to make yourselfclean.
This would have been consecrateyourselves.
This would have been themphysically bathing themselves,
(20:43):
not only so that they wouldphysically be clean, but as a
sign.
By the way, back then theydidn't even take showers every
day.
So keep your judgment toyourself.
Maybe it's biblical, it'sreally not.
But whatever, I'm moving on.
They would have done this as asign of what they want.
Going on, they would have hit apause on marital intimacy.
They would have focused on thegoodness of God and who he is.
(21:05):
This was them.
It's more along the lines ofthem getting all cleaned up to
run down on Christmas morningfeeling fresh and new in their
pajamas, because God hassomething beautiful to give them
.
That's what's happening here.
It's not get holy so God willgive you what you want, or get
holy, because God will be angrywith you.
If you don't, it's get holy,because God doesn't want you to
(21:27):
miss out on any of the greatthings he's about to do right in
front of you.
And when you think about yourholiness and what that might
mean, don't get me wrong.
There may be some good thingsfor you to stop.
There may be some good thingsfor you to start, but appreciate
the order.
They're not convincing God ofanything.
He's already said this promiseis going to happen.
(21:49):
He's already in the midst ofdoing it.
He wants them to be holy sothey don't miss out on him.
Be holy so they don't miss outon him.
The other deep current that Iwant you to see is that we move,
but we move based on hispromises and his word.
If you look real closely andthis screen's very small, so
you're going to have to lookreal closely Joshua isn't even
(22:11):
the one who starts moving.
He's not the one who leads.
Joshua sends the priests, hesends the presence of God first.
If I'm walking into enemyterritory, I'll tell you what
I'm not putting in front my wifeand my children.
They're valuable, they'revulnerable.
I'm going to put those strongdudes who have been doing their
pushups every day with shieldsand swords and spears.
(22:33):
That's who I'm putting in front.
God's people.
No, god goes in front of them.
The most valuable, vulnerablething walks through first.
One of the reasons I put thisscreen up the way I did is
because I want to show youanother parentheses of thought.
It's in verse 9 through 11.
So I'm putting it inparentheses now You're going to
(22:54):
notice I skip it when I read.
I will come back and read it,you'll see why.
Momentarily, the Lord said toJoshua today I will begin to
exalt you in the sight of allIsrael, that they may know that,
as I was with Moses, so I'll bewith you.
And as for you, command thepriests who bear the ark of the
covenant.
When you come to the brink ofthe waters of the Jordan, of the
(23:20):
waters of the Jordan, you shallstand in the Jordan.
Pause on verse nine and thestory picks up in 12.
Now, therefore, take 12 menfrom the tribes of Israel, for
from each man a tribe.
You'll find out why later inthe chapters ahead.
And when the souls of the feetof the priest bearing the ark of
the Lord, when the mostvaluable thing, walks into muddy
water, the Lord thing walksinto muddy water.
(23:41):
The Lord, the Lord of all theearth shall rest in the waters
of the Jordan.
The waters of the Jordan shallbe cut off from flowing and the
waters coming down from aboveshall stand in one heap.
Now why did I pause and put theparentheses there?
That's the story.
You're going to carry the ark,you're going to walk into the
river, the priests are going tocarry it.
Once they step into the water,I'm going to do a miracle in
front of you and all of a sudden, it's going to turn into dry
(24:02):
land.
Why do I put this inparentheses?
Because Joshua pauses and he,he sort of quietly, speaks to
the people.
This isn't narrative, this ishis thought.
Joshua said to the people ofIsrael come here, listen to the
words of the Lord, your God.
I don't want you to miss this.
You're gonna see somethingmiraculous, but I don't want you
(24:27):
to miss something even moremiraculous.
Joshua said here is how youshall know that the living God
is among you, that he will,without fail, drive out from
before you Landry way to goites,hittites, hivites, perizzites,
girishites, amorites, jebusites.
Here's how you're going to know.
Behold, the ark of the covenantof the Lord of all the earth is
passing over before you in theJordan.
(24:48):
This little parentheses isJoshua doing something
fascinating.
I want to show it to you.
I know it's too small to see,so I went ahead and color-coded
it.
This is Joshua looking at thegeneration that chose to be
strong and courageous.
If you haven't been with us forthe past couple of weeks, I
can't get you all the way caughtup, but what you need to know
(25:08):
is what you're seeing.
In Deuteronomy 7 was said to ageneration who was supposed to
come into this land, but theysaw all of these ites and they
got scared and they ran home andthey wandered for 40 years as a
result of it, until they died.
But their children, who sawtheir lack of faith and learn
from their lack of faith, theyall of a sudden have a very
(25:31):
different expression and Joshuahuddles them up and he says you
remember that promise that wasgiven to your mom and your dad.
You're gonna fulfill it.
And by name, joshua calls outtheir enemies in front of the
Lord.
Do you know why this wouldmatter to me If I was leading a
group of people and for the nextnumber of years we were going
(25:52):
to be going into battles?
Do you know how confirming itis that I can say hey, I
remember this.
Joshua pulled us to the side.
We're about to go into the landof the Amorites.
It's been a while since wetalked, but I remember that
river being ripped open.
I remember walking through onsolid ground and I remember it
(26:12):
was more than just a miracle, itwas a promise.
It was Joshua saying God hasn'tstopped keeping his promises.
Will we be a holy people sothat we will not miss out?
This is one of the deepestcurrents, but the final current
that I want you to see, the onethat we'll explore for just a
(26:34):
moment together, is this realitywhen Christians move, they
never, ever move alone.
Who is it that goes with us?
I'm going to build, by the way,note takers.
I'm going to build a littlelist.
Okay, y'all always get upset ifI go too fast and you tell me I
click my slides too quickly.
It is now on you.
(26:56):
I'm letting you know and Itried to keep all my sentences
so short who goes with us?
A God who is sovereign over all.
How sovereign this sovereign.
Behold, the ark of the covenantof the Lord of all the earth is
passing over before you, whenthe souls of the feet of the
(27:17):
priest bearing the ark of theLord of all the earth is passing
over before you, when the soulsof the feet of the priests
bearing the ark of the Lord.
Which Lord, the Lord of all theearth?
Ruth's confession in chaptertwo.
I know that the Lord Yahweh,god, your God, who I don't know
but I long to know.
I know that the Lord of all theearth is in charge of you and
(27:37):
he is in charge of your people.
We are following a God who issovereign over all things.
Every plan, every day written,every decision of the multiverse
of your life has been seen andwritten and cared for, and it is
known and how is it known?
By the Lord of all the earth.
(27:57):
This is not some little tribaldeity doing his absolute best to
nudge a river to the side sohis people can move.
No, this is the creator of theuniverse, who placed stars in
their spot, who told this river.
This is where you will go onthis day, saying not now river,
(28:19):
back it up just a bit.
When I read this, I'll tell youwhat it makes me think of.
We were doing Bible time withour kids earlier in the week and
we were reading the story ofthe disciples in the boat when
Jesus is asleep.
He's asleep and the storm kicksup and they're afraid that
they're about to die.
And Jesus is like getting allthe Z's hitting the snooze down
(28:40):
in the bottom of the boat.
Why?
Because God is sovereign overall.
He's not worried about this day.
He knows his day and he knowsGod knows his day.
So Jesus pops up from thebottom, he walks up to the sea
and he says hey, hush, be still.
And what did the disciples do?
Marvel, and Jesus looks at him.
He says hey, hush, be still.
And what did the disciples do?
Marvel, and Jesus looks at him.
He says you of little faith.
(29:00):
I'll be honest with you.
That does hit me in the feels alittle bit.
I'm like what did, like what arewe supposed to expect?
If I'm in a boat and I'm aboutto die, crying out to the Lord
seems like the right thing to do.
But here's what I would venture.
The next time they hop in aboat which we know they do and
(29:21):
the next time a storm comes up,do you think they respond a
little bit differently?
You better believe they, do youbetter believe?
When the wind kicks up and thewaves smack them in the face,
they look at that wave and,instead of fearing, they smile.
Why?
Because their God is sovereignover all.
If it is their day, it is theirday, and if it is not, they can
get pitched into the water.
(29:41):
Maybe a fish will come andgobble them up for just a moment
, but they have nothing to fear,christian.
Nothing to fear nothing.
The God who knows you and lovesyou and called you.
He is sovereign over all yourdays.
Secondly, the God who goes withus is a God who invites those,
even with the littlest of faith.
(30:06):
I really love how God did this.
He could have expected bigfaith.
He could have said all right,here's what I want.
I want the priest to carry themost valuable thing.
I want them to go forward infront and I want them to wade
out into the middle of the riverduring its flood stage.
That's not what he says.
I mean, check this out when thesouls of the feet of the priest
(30:30):
bearing the ark, as soon asthose bearing the ark come as
far as the Jordan and their feetare dipped in the brink of the
water.
I mean this is like when youtalk about, like putting your
toe in the waters of faith.
This is what we're talkingabout.
These priests are like allright, let's see how it goes.
Oh, my goodness, that wasinsane.
(30:51):
Like that's how it plays out.
Their faith is to put their toein the water.
That's what they are called todo, and as soon as they do, the
water's coming down from above.
Stand up and this heap of waterbegins to build.
When you look at your life, Iknow that there are a number of
things that God is gonna callyou to be faithful in.
(31:13):
I'm looking at your faces nowand I know, because I pray with
you and I talk with you, whatmany of your toe-in-the-water
faith ought to be.
Guys, this is a joy.
This is the difference infeeling hesitant and feeling
like God wants to display hisgoodness in front of you.
(31:34):
What is it for you to put yourtoe in?
The water of faith?
Look, there are going to beseasons where God asks you to
baptize yourself in faith, whereyou have to lay headlong into
difficulty.
But for many of us, this is howlife plays out One toe in, and
some seasons you're going to becarrying a light load.
(31:55):
And in carrying that light load, you're going to be on solid
ground and it's going to feeleasy.
Some seasons you're going to becarrying a heavy, valuable load
.
You're going to look at themarriage you're trying to
shepherd, the business thatyou're trying to lead, the
children that you're trying topoint to students, or the
players that you are leading.
You're going to have thesethings underneath you that you
(32:16):
want to lead and shepherd well,and you're going to be carrying
something heavy, hopefully onsolid ground.
But there are going to beseasons, like this, where you
feel like you are carryingsomething that is far too
valuable for you the life thatis in your hands, the decisions
that lie before you.
And God calls them to carry themost heavy, valuable thing they
(32:39):
will ever have in their livesinto the soggiest, most unstable
water that they can imagine.
And he says I need you to putyour foot in before the ground
gets solid.
I need you to show me that youtrust me.
Ever so little faith, but itmatters to God.
The psalmist understood this in18.
(33:02):
Who is God but the Lord, andwho is a rock except our God?
Is there anything more stablethan our God, the one who
equipped me with strength?
He made my way blameless.
I couldn't make my wayblameless.
I couldn't be holy, I couldn'tbe consecrated.
He did this on my behalf.
He made my feet like the feetof a deer.
He sent me secure on theheights.
(33:23):
I know that a number of you arehunters.
I'd be willing to bet yourexperience is the same as mine.
I've never seen a deer twist anankle.
I don't know if that's exactlywhy this is in here, but I'll
tell you.
When I'm in a stand they seemto be awfully nimble, especially
if they have figured out whereI am.
Never twist an ankle, nevermiss spot bounding around.
This is who God makes his peopletrains our hands for war so
(33:45):
that we can bend a bow of bronze.
He has given me the shield ofyour salvation.
What do I have to fear if Iknow that my eternity is covered
?
Your right hand, you, god, gaveme a wide place for my steps.
Do you realize that that isspoken over you, even when we
(34:08):
feel like we are on a balancingbeam?
If we could see by faith, awide path has been opened up for
us.
The Lord lives.
Blessed be my rock and exaltedbe the God of my salvation.
Carrie, is that a Sandy Pattysong?
Blessed be the rock and may theGod of my salvation be.
(34:29):
I do too.
I think my mom used to play itby cassette tape.
Speaker 2 (34:33):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (34:35):
Who goes with us, a God who is supernatural in power
this is one of my favoritethings.
As soon as those bearing theark had come as far as the
Jordan now, the Jordan overflowsall its banks throughout the
time of the harvest, the waterscoming down from above.
They stood, they rose up inthis massive heap.
(34:58):
And the priest bearing the ark?
They stood firmly on dry ground, firmly on dry ground.
The God that we follow issupernatural.
We are fortunate enough to livevery near a really cool river
and at about five o'clock theChattahoochee opens up and the
(35:18):
rivers begin to overflow theirbanks.
And when it does, that is notthe time you cross the river.
Bad call.
But here God waits until thismassive flow begins to come.
Why?
Because when the waters ofdifficulty rise, we are prone to
(35:39):
assume that God isn't presentor God doesn't care.
But God often raises the waterlevel of our difficulty in front
of us to show us that the onlyway we're going to make it
across is with Him and with Himalone.
God's greatest kindness isoften hidden in your conflict,
and if you're too busy trying toget out of the conflict, trying
(36:01):
to figure out how you're goingto circumvent the river or build
a boat to get across thisdifficulty.
You may never have the presenceof mind to pause and say God
called, allowed and brought.
Maybe I should just put my footin this thing and see if God
will not make a way.
Many times, the kindness of Godis hidden in the conflict and
(36:21):
that's one of the treasures ofthis passage that God will
occasionally allow your marriageto get worse.
He'll allow your job to getworse.
He will allow your health tofail.
He'll allow your adult childrento wander.
Why?
Because many times, god'sgreatest kindness is often
hidden in conflict.
Watch.
Here's what a Christian oughtto do.
(36:41):
A Christian ought to watch forthe waters to rise and then do
this.
Okay, let's see how this playsout.
God is sovereign, all powerful,in control.
Loves me.
Let's get my toe in this waterand see if he will not do
something absolutely amazing.
The God who goes with us is aGod who can actually be followed
(37:02):
.
This is my favorite, myfavorite.
I'm a science guy.
I love this.
Actually, this is my secondfavorite.
Here is where God's people began.
Here is where they are on theirway.
You will notice they arecrossing this sea sorry, not sea
this river right here, now, ifyou pay close attention in the
text, the Bible tells you whereGod stores all the water that he
(37:26):
held up.
The waters coming down fromabove stood and rose up in a
heap very far away at Adam.
I know it says Adam it'sactually pronounced Adam the
city that is beside Zarethan,which means, for those of you
who remember being in the sixthgrade and doing map work, if you
take this little scale and youapply it to, here's Adam, here's
where they cross, god carriedthat water 15 miles and he stuck
(37:52):
it over there.
Now here's my question why onearth would God do that?
When you picture Moses walkingthrough the Red Sea, where's the
Red Sea?
When they go through it, it'slike right there.
Have you not seen the littlefishies swimming by as they go
through?
In every little movie that youhave ever seen here, it is 15
miles away.
If you're standing on flatground in Texas, you can see 16
(38:15):
miles before the curvature ofthe earth cuts you off.
What's really fascinating aboutthis is if this water was
flowing at the same rate as theChattahoochee, which is some.
I did the math on this.
I say that I've just got areally good account on chat GPT
Chattahoochee river right downthe way.
169 million gallons of water inan hour.
(38:35):
If you started filling up afootball field, I think we all
know what that is.
One week away, if you startfilling up a football field,
then it would be 40 stories higheach hour.
That's how much water we'retalking about.
That doesn't take into accountthe 15 miles of water that was
(38:56):
already sitting in the riverthat God scooped up.
What on earth is God doing here?
Is he making firm ground forhis people to cross?
You better believe he is.
Are they walking through singlefile like we feel like they did
in Exodus?
It doesn't seem so.
It seems like God grabbed thatriver, which he put there anyway
.
He rips it up 15 miles and hesays here's a wide way for you
(39:18):
to walk through.
Cross it in 10 minutes if youwant to.
It's plenty wide.
But the longer you go, the moreincredible my miracle is going
to become, and, and and everyother nation would have been
able to see this.
You see, god isn't just doingthis to save his people or to
give hope to his people.
He's doing this to declaresomething I am the God who
(39:40):
created it all.
Where is your faith?
Who are you trusting this is aGod who is bringing a far better
kingdom.
He's sovereign over all,invites those with little faith
to put their toe in the water.
He is supernatural in power andhe actually can be followed,
and he is a God who is bringinga far, far better kingdom.
(40:04):
You see, when all of that waterbegins piling up here in Adam,
every nation sees it and theyrealize our kingdoms cannot
stand against a God like this,and I'll prove it to you.
I'll prove it to you by readingtheir own thoughts in Joshua 5.
(40:25):
As soon as all the kings of theAmorites who were beyond the
Jordan to the west, and all thekings of the Canaanites who were
by the sea heard that the Lordhad dried up the waters of the
Jordan for the people of Israeluntil they had crossed over,
their hearts melted.
There was no longer any spiritin them.
Because of the people of Israel, god is putting on display I
(40:46):
love you, I care about you, I ampowerful, you can follow me.
Little faith is enough.
Would you put your toe in thewater when you're carrying a
heavy load and it feels like theground underneath you is not
stable?
I am stable enough and thewhole world is going to know who
I am.
Don't you want to be on theright side of it?
Don't you want to navigate lifewith joy and expectation
(41:09):
instead of fear and trepidation?
That is who we follow, and thereason that we follow him is
because this is a God.
One of my slides isn't working.
It's my last slide.
It's my favorite slide.
It's working here.
It's my last slide.
It's my favorite slide.
It's working here.
It's not working there.
(41:30):
It's a pretty big iPad.
All of these things are truebecause this is a God who has
been telling this story allalong.
You're ready to be blown away.
Then Jesus came from Galilee tothe Jordan, to John, to be
(41:57):
baptized by him.
John would have prevented him.
He would have prevented Jesus,saying I need to be baptized by
you and do you come to me toreceive baptism.
But Jesus answered him.
Let it be so now, for thus itis fitting for us to fulfill all
righteousness.
We don't know exactly, but doyou know where we think Jesus
(42:18):
got baptized?
Here's where we think he gotbaptized.
In our story, they were passingfrom here to here.
Got baptized In our story, theywere passing from here to here.
You'll notice Jericho is righthere, dead Sea below and here's
the river, all the way up toAdam.
And then, when we look atChrist and his baptism, we know
(42:38):
that he was baptized nearBethany by the Jordan, in the
very same stretch of river where, 1400 years ago, god had called
his people to pass through onsolid ground.
Do you think God wasn't thinkingahead 1400 years?
Do you think God wasn'tthinking ahead and saying look,
(43:00):
I know that you may be a littlebit nervous, but can I tell you,
you are about to walk throughthis flood, you're about to walk
through it, but my son will bebaptized into it.
You will see something that isterrifying and wide and deep and
great, and I will do a miracleso that it doesn't overwhel over
(43:25):
him.
Moses walks through water ondry ground.
Joshua walks through water ondry, solid ground.
That is why and we ought tohave known, because we have this
(43:56):
as a sure and steadfast angerof the soul, a hope that enters
into the inner place, behind thecurtain, where Jesus has gone
as a forerunner on our behalf,jesus runs headlong into the
waters of wrath and the watersend up running from him, because
he is greater than death.
(44:17):
He is greater than anything andany enemy that you will ever
see why, so that those of us cansee this deeper promise that
has always been pulling.
And we can see that, no matterwhat life looks like, christian,
you have solid ground to standon because you are standing on
the one who went before you.
(44:37):
You are standing on the one whotook what you deserved.
And if you're not trusting inChrist, do you see this offer?
It's not getting clean so thatGod will do something.
It's not needing massive faith.
It's you saying I feel prettyunstable.
God, would you make my feetsure?
Yeah, I certainly will, ifyou'll put them in the right
place.
Let today be the day whereevery one of us put our toe in
(45:02):
the water.
I don't know what you need tofind in Christ today, but I know
that he has all of this and amillion blessings more.
Let today be a day where wewalk through life on solid
ground, faithfully, because heis in control and he loves us.
If you want to receive prayer,if you want to come down and
(45:22):
talk with a pastor, if you wantto celebrate what God is doing
in your life, we'll have somefolks on the back porch behind
me.
Take a moment, think and ponder, and then the worship team will
lead us from there.
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